High schooler uses love of sports to overcome obstacle

Wednesday

Dec 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 26, 2007 at 5:22 AM

It’s been an eventful semester for Augusta High senior Erin Meyer. She was named Homecoming queen for the football game, has played on the Orioles’ volleyball and girls basketball programs, and was named student of the month for October. Considering how Meyer has spent the entire year dealing with a fainting disorder, finally getting the right diagnosis in October was another positive for the senior during the fall.

John Curtis

It’s been an eventful semester for Augusta High senior Erin Meyer. She was named Homecoming queen for the football game, has played on the Orioles’ volleyball and girls basketball programs, and was named student of the month for October.

Considering how Meyer has spent the entire year dealing with a fainting disorder, finally getting the right diagnosis in October was another positive for the senior during the fall.

It all began in January when Meyer fainted during a game at a basketball tournament in El Dorado. She had the same symptoms — passing out; feeling dizzy and shaky — a few more times during the next few months.

“I couldn’t remember where I was and it would take me a couple of hours to regain consciousness,” Meyer said. “It was weird symptoms and nobody could pinpoint what was going on at the time. I went through months and months of testing and in and out of hospital visits with specialists and doctors, and no one could figure out what was wrong.”

The passing out disorder caused Meyer to not be able to play on the Augusta’s girls basketball team that reached the Class 4A state championship game; a feat no Lady Orioles team had achieved in the program and a very rough time for her. Doctors at first thought it was a problem with her heart or diabetes. The diagnosis ended up being a passing out disorder — vaso vegal syncope — and gave her medicine that they thought would help.

Meyer played Mid-America Youth Basketball during the summer, and then took her role as a captain on the Orioles’ volleyball team. In October, she passed out in her government class, but this spell was different from the previous she had suffered.

“I had gotten my dizzy spells, but the whole left side of my body went numb for about a minute,”?Meyer said. “That was a very weird feeling to have happen. I had heard my parents say that happens when people have strokes.”

She went back to the hospital and the episode did allow doctors to finally find out the true problem to Meyer’s fainting spells. After having an electroencephalogram (EEG) performed, she was diagnosed with having a complex partial temporal lobe brain seizure.

According to the Web site MayoClinic.com, a temporal lobe seizure starts in the part of the brain that processes emotions. Many people who have these seizures experience odd feelings — ranging from euphoria to fear — at the onset of their seizures. The temporal lobes lie along the sides of your head, just above your ears.

“For most people, it’s not a good thing,”?Meyer said. “It’s not a good thing in my case, but it was a relief to actually have a test come back and show something abnormal, and getting it taken care of for once. It’s pretty devastating, but it’s a relief as well.

“Basically, it’s just electrical problems with my brain. It can be very serious because things in your brain can cause paralysis if left untreated. I’m on corrective medicine that makes me very tired. It’s tough to get used to this, but hopefully, I’ll get back to normal.”

One other thing to consider at the time of the tests was the Homecoming activities at Augusta High, since she was nominated for queen. It became a battle of wills between Meyer and her doctors for her to go to the festivities; as tests were supposed to conclude two days after.

“It was a stressful time,”?Meyer said. “With a lot of debating, the doctors said they would let me go to the ceremony and if they needed me to come back, then they’d call me.”

Meyer’s volleyball season was cut short because of the spells. Augusta volleyball head coach Brian Hallmark knew Meyer was upset about not finishing the season; but he appreciated the senior trying to continue the role as a captain on the team in the capacity of a student coach.

“This year, she was one of our inspirational leaders,” Hallmark said. “Losing her was not only losing experience, but also kind of losing your right arm because she kept the girls together and going. She was trying to push them through the valleys. It was tough for Erin on the side.

“They had such a great year last year; and she didn’t care about wins and losses, she wanted to keep the team as tight as they as they were last year.”

Meyer decided to return to sports, again playing basketball for the Lady Orioles, where she usually is asked to defend one of the opponent’s top ballhandlers. The coaches make sure that Meyer is all right during a game to try to keep her from having another fainting spell on the court.

“It’s great to have her back,” said Augusta girls basketball head coach Bob Jackson. “She gives everything she has and is a good leader on and off the floor. She’s a very integral part of this team.”

Meyer admitted the decision to play sports again was something that she, her parents and her doctors talked about for a long time. In the end, she was able to persuade everyone to let her back onto the sports scene.

“My release file in the office says ‘Erin may participate in sports if tolerated.’ ‘If tolerated’ is highlighted and underlined,”?Meyer said. “Sports are what I love and that’s what makes me happy. It’s my senior year and I want to be out there with all of my friends.”